Here We Are
by a1y-puff
Summary: Three NOT-connected drabbles. Of Komui, who understands Kanda and Allen better than themselves. Of a hug given in the world of memories and darkness. And of an AU, in which Alma and Allen are competing for Kanda.


**These are written for a drabble meme I did in LJ. None of these are beta'ed nor they are connected with one another. I'm just too lazy to post these three separately, and besides, they would be too short to post individually, so I just throw them together XD**

**Thanks for everyone who had requested! I had fun writing these! :D**

**Reviews are my nutrition so please don't forget to give them :D**

**DISCLAIMED. **

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**Komui Knows Better **– for Jayazz on LJ

**Pairing: **not-so-friendshipKanda/Allen-ish

**Prompt:** Komui understanding Kanda and Allen better than themselves.

**Rating:**G

**Note: **THis didn't turn out the way I wanted it, but... You know what? I love making these dorks bicker. XD

---

Komui wasn't sure if he should be amused, but in fact, he was. It was almost funny, how Kanda and Allen sat as far away as possible from each other on the couch in front of his desk, looking everywhere but at each other.

"So as I was saying, the mission is a long-term one. You'll need at least a month to complete it. Be good and work well with each other, okay?"

"Can't you send me with Lavi instead? Or even Krory?" Allen asked with half-hopeful half-desperate expression on his face.

"If anyone is leaving this mission, it's going to be you, stupid, beansprout," Kanda growled low in his throat, and added, "Just send the rabbit with me. Or better yet, send me _alone_."

"What? You can't go alone, BaKanda! You know it's too dangerous. Did you even read the specs?"

"Unlike you, I'm not weak. And if I were to go with someone, it better be _not _you."

"You think I _want_ to go with you? You antisocial prick!"

"And I'm not having a whiny idiotic bean sprout who can't even take care of his own sorry ass as a partner! You'll just get in my way."

"Is this about our last mission? I was only being off-guard!"

"Proved my poin, you careless idiot!"

"Listen to yourself! Who was the one throwing himself into battle with broken ribs, you reckless bastard! For all I know, you'll get yourself killed if no one's there to save _your_ sorry arse!"

"I won't die and I hate you!"

"I don't believe you and the hatred is mutual!"

"Now, now, kids. Calm down," Komu interrupted and immediately the glares Kanda and Allen gave to each other were thrown at him instead—Komui knew neither of them liked being called a kid. "While it's sweet of you to worry about each other—"

"We're NOT!" they chorused at the same time, before looking at each other with disgust written all over their faces.

"—you're still going together, and that's final. Now, go prepare yourselves. Shoo!" Komui announced cheerfully while waving a dismissive hand.

Both exorcists glared at him and at each other one last time, before finally Kanda clucked his tongue and stood up first, followed by Allen who stuck out his tongue at his comrade's back while following him to the door. Komui smiled at Link whose existence had been forgotten by the two excorsists, and the inspector merely nodded and rolled his eyes when Kanda and Allen started fighting about nothing and everything again as they reached the door.

Smiling to himself, Komui listened to the drifting voices of the bickering boys. Right, they could lie to themselves and deny it all they want, but Komui knew better. Their fight earlier was really just a result of them being unsure how to deal with the fact that they really were just worried about each other.

That, and becuase it was the only way they know how to communicate with each other.

Really, now. Sometimes, Komui just wanted to smack them over their heads. But in the end, he would just smile and enjoy the show.

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**What You Need** – for frames_in_aria on LJ (a member of DnKS-giRLs)

**Pairing:** Kanda/Allen-ish (friendhippy?)

**Prompt:** Hug

**Rating:**G

**Note:** Post the inside-Kanda's-memories ark... or at least at the end of it XD

---

Tears were still running down his face even when everything around him started to darken, fragments of memories that didn't belong to him and he was sure were never meant for him to see dissolving into thin air, leaving nothing but darkness.

It had been horrible, what he'd seen just moments ago. It had been cruel. How could Kanda, at such a tender age, turn into a killing machine? How could they do that to him? Clearly Kanda hadn't wanted that. The agony was all too clear for Allen to see in those still somewhat innocent dark eyes as a much younger Kanda went about mutilating his own best friend.

How did Kanda even feel—

"Oops, looks like our time's up," Road's voice came from beside him, and Allen noticed how the Noah girl started dissolving from her toes and up, and then he looked down at himself, who was still solid, but there were flickers of lights on the tip of his boots. "You'll get out of here pretty soon too, Allen."

And Allen watched as the Noah of dream rapidly dissolving until she completely disappeared from view. He heard a rustle of fabric and turned his head to find Kanda—the _current_ Kanda, judging by his figure and what he was wearing—staring blankly into space.

"Kanda?" Allen carefully called, and the other just spared him a glance, before going back staring off into the darkness that was surrounding them.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and started walking towards the older teen, absently noticing how he and Kanda were also starting to dissolve from their toes, but at a more sedate pace than Road had earlier.

When he was close enough, Kanda only regarded him with a simple, "What?"

And Allen noticed them. The weary eyes, the tired voice, the grief Kanda wore around himself like a cloak. Allen saw them, and he couldn't take it anymore.

So he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Kanda. The Japanese looked slightly surprised, but otherwise he didn't react, and it worried him. It worried Allen that Kanda had yet to push him away and kick his arse for what he was doing right now.

"What are you doing?"Kanda asked instead; his voice detached, unimpressed.

"Giving you a hug," Allen simply replied, not looking up to Kanda's face, because he didn't want to see, _couldn't_ bear to see the blank, impassive look Kanda was wearing, because it was just heartbreaking.

"Why are you hugging me?" Kanda asked again, still with that flat, emotionless tone of his.

Allen tightened his arms around Kanda for a moment, before gathering enough courage to look up and into Kanda's eyes as he firmly said, "Because you need this."

For what seems like forever, they held their gazes with each other. Allen didn't care even if his tears started to stream down his cheeks again, and then for a second, he thought he saw something flickered in Kanda's eyes.

And then Kanda closed his eyes and scoffed, saying, "it looks like _you're_ the one who needs the hug."

A progress. This was definitely a progress from the detached person Kanda had been until just a moment ago. So Allen dared himself and replied, "Well then humor me for a bit, we're going to go back soon anyway," and went back to burrying his face into the material of Kanda's cloak.

He heard a sigh, before slowly, tentatively, a hand was pressed against the small of his back and a weight on his right shoulder told Allen that Kanda had rested his head there. He felt the hand on his back curled and gripped his cloak tightly, and Allen moved his own hand to make soothing circles on Kanda's back.

And they stayed like that all the while their forms kept dissolving into thin air. They stayed like that, until they finally disappeared completely from the world of memories and darkness.

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**To Compete** – for LaFia

**Pairing:** Alma -- Kanda --(?) Allen

**Prompt:** Alma competing with Allen for Kanda's affection. Fluff with sexual frustration.

**Rating: **PG

**Note:** _AU_. And Kanda's OCD-ness is based on my brother's habit. LoL. And this is too long for a drabble, gah! It's now officially a ficlet...

---

"We used to sleep together sometimes," Alma said, playing with his pencil by twirling it around his finger, "his sleeping face is different, you know."

"Yes, actually, I do know," Allen replied a bit haughtily, not wanting to let Alma brag about Kanda like he knew Kanda better than Allen—which he probably did, what with being a childhood friend and everything—but still, "I got to sleep with him—innocently, by the way—when we had sleepover in Lavi's place last week."

Which was basically the both of them squeezing in a sofa-bed and Kanda hogging the only spare blanket Lavi owned. And then he had been kicked awake in the morning, because sometime during the night, it seemed like he had rolled over a little too close and slept on Kanda's ridiculously long hair—Allen had insisted it hadn't been his fault that Kanda's hair was like _everywhere_ on their makeshift bed.

"I share food with Yuu sometimes. He likes to pick my tempura." The smug smile on Alma's face was evident. Allen tried not to make a face.

"Well, we're sharing food too," or Allen stealing extra food from Kanda's plate. "He sometimes gives me _his_ tempura," after Allen took a bite which made Kanda angry and choke him with soba noodle, that is, but Alma didn't need to know the details.

"I get to call him 'Yuu'."

"And I get to call him 'BaKanda'. He even gave me a nickname."

Though really, 'bean sprout' was nowhere near an endearing pet name. It was mocking at its best, for yes, Allen had height issues. Even Alma was still taller than him—by an inch, but yeah. _Taller._

Alma huffed a little while Allen tried to concentrate on his part of the group assignment instead of listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom and imagining what was happening inside.

He failed miserably.

"Kanda took quite a while showering," Allen couldn't help but wonder, but he didn't realize he had said it out loud until Alma responded.

"Oh yes, well, Yuu's hair is really long now. He likes to clean his hair really thoroughly, even if it's only with soap," Alma explained, his face softened as he spoke, as if he was reciting something dear.

Allen hummed in acknowledgment, but then he saw Alma beamed up at him and the smug look was back again.

"I bathe with Yuu sometimes," Alma said, "he's kind of OCD, you know. He does everything systematically, thrice. First, he would soap his chest, down his stomach, and then up his arms..."

Oh bloody hell, the mental image that showed up in Allen's mind was painfully vivid.

"...and then after he's done with his back, he'd do his legs..."

_Don't imagine it, don't imagine it..._

"And after he soaps his hair, rinses everything away, he'd redo the process all over again for the second and third time." Alma finally finished. "Though I don't know why he should do everything three times..."

And Allen had tuned Alma's voice out, for his imaginative brain had provided him with quite the mental image he knew he was going to jerk off to for the next week or so. And god, he didn't get hard, did he? Allen crossed his legs and willed himself to calm down, and—

"Are you idiots done with your parts yet?"

Allen nearly jumped as the familiar voice came from somewhere behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to find Kanda standing behind the sofa he was sitting in, dressed in a plain black shirt and pants with water still dripping from his unbound hair.

Allen gulped. "Umm... I'm halfway through?"

Kanda made a face. "What have you been doing all those time I spent in the bathroom? Gossiping?"

_Well yes, about you,_ Allen's mind answered but he shut his mouth tight as to not letting out the wrong words out. But then the topic of showering brought a question he'd been pondering since a few minutes ago, and he blurted out, "Alma said he takes a bath with you sometimes?"

Kanda gave him a blank look in return, before glancing at Alma—who grinned sheepishly—and rolled his eyes. "Yes. _'Took'._ The last time we did it was when we were ten."

"Oh," Allen said, feeling relieved and embarrassed for some reason.

Then, his stomach decided to make its presence known by growling really, really loudly and now Allen had a good reason to blush. Kanda snorted at the sound of Allen's so-called black hole, while Alma laughed warmly and said, "I'll go make us dinner now. Yuu, you've done your grocery, right?"

"Yes. Just don't mess up my kitchen," replied Kanda, and Allen couldn't help noticing how the corners of Kanda's mouth quirked up just the slightest bit, and Allen wished that microscopic smile was for him instead.

"I'll help," Allen volunteered, because he knew—the three of them knew, that it'd be Allen who would eat most of the food, so it would make him feel bad to not help preparing his own meal.

But Alma just smiled at him from the kitchen door, and said, "It's fine, I'll just make some fried rice. You better finish your part or Yuu will kick your ass. Mine is almost done anyway."

"Uh... thanks then," Allen muttered. He watched as Alma went into the kitchen and thought, this was why he couldn't dislike Alma. Yes, they were in love with the same person. Yes, they were competing against each other for said person's attention. But when Kanda wasn't involved, Alma was such a good friend, even to _him._ And how could he hate someone like Alma anyway?

Allen sighed and sat back down at the couch, took his pencil and tried to focus back on his essay, ignoring the thoughts revolving around _'I can't win from Alma'_ or _'It's only natural if Kanda would choose him over me'_ and—

"What's wrong now?"

Allen raised his head at the question and found Kanda was sitting beside him, looking at him with—dare he say it—concern in his otherwise stoic face. Allen's ever-intelligence reply was, "Huh?"

"You look miserable, sprout. Your brain can't take such an easy assignment?" the words were supposed to be mocking, but the tone Kanda said it in kind of betrayed the intended effect.

Was he worried? Allen shook his head a little and smile, "My brain is more than capable, thank you very much."

"Really now?" Kanda smirked, then reached out his arm to touch Allen's forehead with the back of his hand, and said, "Huh, at least your head isn't overheated."

Oh. So he _was_ worried. How... _sweet_.

"I'm fine really," Allen said, and then he put down his pencil, turned his head to face Kanda. And when he saw the look on Kanda's eyes, Allen _failed_ to resist the urge to press his lips against Kanda's cool cheek. So he did.

Kanda looked stunned for a moment, but he immediately schooled his expression back into something neutral and said flatly, "You have a death wish."

But when he saw Kanda's face tinged with the slightest reddish hue, and for the fact that Kanda hadn't killed him yet despite what he had said, Allen thought to himself that, hey, maybe he was winning.

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End file.
